To support the President=s energy plan to develop new technologies that promote energy efficiency and conservation, EPA today announced a grant to foster the development of energy products from food processing facilities. U.S. Senator Kit Bond and Acting EPA Regional Administrator Bill Rice (Region VII) announced on July 28 a $4,989,000 grant to the Gas Technology Institute of Des Plaines, Ill. The award will help support the development of a demonstration food processing facility for use by the Butterball Turkey Co. in Carthage, Mo. This project may eventually help the food industry to adopt an efficient and profitable process for converting poultry wastes into useful, high-value energy products without discharging air pollutants that pose odor and human respiratory problems.

This demonstration facility will use a new process, called thermal depolymerization (TDP), to dispose of all types of poultry waste. TDP is a “green” alternative that converts wastes into useable energy and other useful products, such as industrial chemicals. Traditional disposal methods can produce odors in the local community and generate air pollutant emissions. For example, disposing of waste in landfills has the potential for leaching contaminants into the groundwater and also generating significant quantities of global warming gases.

For further technical information on the grant, contact Jim Durham of EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards at 919-541-5672.